Obsession du Jour

Newborn Essentials

Things learned in last night's 'newborn essentials' class:

1 - Papa Bear learned how to change a diaper.  Hooray!
2 - Apparently, that hair dryer I haven't touched in almost a decade (but for some reason have been unable to convince myself to dispose of) might actually be able to pull it's weight now in that it can be used, apparently, to calm a fussy baby.
3 - There ARE actually women out there who are MORE pregnant than me. I had begun to doubt that fact, but it's true.  Also?  That there really IS a huge difference between a 28-week belly and a 36-week belly.  Huge. Difference.
4 - Disappointingly, depite thousands of years of civilization and our ability to put men on the moon and rovers on mars, there is still only one reliable way to get a newborn baby's temperature.  And yes, it still involves vaseline, if you get my drift.  Sure, later there are other options, but not for the newborn.

For those that might someday like this to go back to being a knitting blog:

Baby Kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting in Cotton Ease (old skool) 'Popsicle' ** (see?  I do still knit.) and Buggy pants sewn by moi.  Baby pants, it turns out, are addictively easy, so expect to see more of this sort of sewing project on here. I have a fabric stash that - while nowhere near as aggressive as the fiber/yarn stash - has the potential to scare the uninitiated. Next we learn how to install snaps on these puppies for easy diapering access.

Oh, and just for the record:

This is 14 wks vs. 20 weeks vs. 32 weeks, that last being four weeks ago.  Maybe I can enlist some help this weekend to get some 36 week belly shots in slightly more interesting settings.  Like....say.....MA S&W out in Cummington?  Belly + sheep = giggles.

Who's going?  C'mon, fess up. Inquiring minds want to know.

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**OK, and can we just take a moment or two to contemplate all the reasons that this outfit in this yarn is impractical and inadvisable for most human beings?  Seriously.  Think about it.

Speaking of lying around in one's PJ's....

Back in the weeks before I knew I was pregnant, during the seasonal re-arrangement of clothing, I had been shocked to find that I had mysteriously put on enough extra pounds to have *ahem* 'outgrown' last year's flannel PJ pants. Now, leaving aside the point that I should have maybe suspected something from this clue, I did what any other self-respecting crafty-girl would do. I cut them up to make a quick-n-easy lap throw for the chilly days of winter.

When winter never really came the impulse faded, and the wee squares sat up in the craft room gathering dust.

Fast-forward a handful of weeks and one life-changing discovery later and the lap throw idea was reborn, only this time as a warm, cuddly baby blanket.

The plaids aren't particularly lined up, or even square for that matter, but hopefully WeeBeastie won't notice. It's fleece-backed, warm, and it's made out of some of my favorite PJ's, retired before their time. What could be more fantastically, sappily sentimental than that?

Rabbit holes

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming, in which I continue to go on and on and on about yet another thing that is neither knitting nor spinning. 

It IS crafty though.  That has to count for something, right?

We went for this, but then we stumbled into this:

Valley Fabrics in Northhampton, MA

Imagine for a moment  (all you fabric-heads) that you took all the stock from all the other fabric superstores all over the country, and you stripped out all the 90% of filler that you would probably never use anyway, and then picked just ONE store to carry the 10% that was left.  The stuff that you really want to use.  Got that image?  Good.  You're in Valley Fabrics.  Seriously, there's not a single fabric in here that you wouldn't use to make SOMETHING.  It might not be for YOU, and it might not be YOUR colors, but you or someone you know loves every bolt of fabric in this store.  The piece de resistance?  Helpful, friendly, experienced, understanding, patient staff.

I said this to someone recently (so forgive me for repeating myself) that the best way to explain my reaction to this store is this:  If, upon dying, I were to find that heaven was a fabric store (Which it's not.  We all know it's a yarn store.) it would be this store.   

Go there.  Go there soon.  As a matter of fact, go there now, virtually: http://www.valleyfabrics.com/catalog/

Now, as you might have heard, some of us were hooked (ahem, at least it wasn't entirely me) and some of us weren't, and truthfully, I think that's for the best because if we had ALL fallen down this rabbit hole, my own trip would have been far more damaging.  As it was, having the constant knowledge that we were leaving our friends abandoned on the street waiting for us moderated both the time and dollars spent. This is a Good Thing, because the house isn't renovating itself. However, lest you fear that I wandered away empty-handed:

Voila.  Bag-fixin's.....I think.

Fun

Funner

Funnest

and a close up up the background fabrics in this shot:

Hee hee hee hee hee....it's linoleum!  It's just like my Grandma's old kitchen table.  If I were the *squeee*ing type, I'd totally be doing that right this second.  How can anyone be sad or grumpy or have a bad day in the face of bright orange linoleum FABRIC fer crissakes?

Oh yeah?  YOU can?  Well then, I double dog dare you to stay grumpy now, Snippy McFussypants:

Dude.  Japanese bunnies.  Where's your sour face now?

Score!

New toy!

Yeah, not actually new, but new to me, and best of all...FREE.  The lady next door is selling her place and moving away, and as part of the clean up, put this thing out on the street...yes, as trash.  Can you imagine that?  Lunacy I tells ya.  So I, of course, snapped this baby right up, so fast in fact that she had to knock on my door a few minutes later to give me all the various bits and sundry pieces that they hadn't had time to carry out yet.  This thing feels like the '57 Chevy of sewing machines and it weighs a TON, but woohoo!  New sewing machine AND TABLE.  Gotta love that.  Hell, even if I end up hating the sewing machine, I can toss it and put my crappy cheap-assed machine in here.  Assuming I ever find it in The Black Hole* of course. 

So, inspired by this and Carolyn (yes, those of you who saw it earlier, I DID come back and change this.  Shut UP, I did SO know her name wasn't Caroline, I'm just a dumbass.  Really, really sorry, Carolyn, really.) I got me some quilty goodies:

No decisions yet on which of the quilts in the Modern Quilt book I'll make, but I've definitely been itching to get back at the sewing machine for a while now. 

How about a knitting picture?  Remember the little kid socks I mentioned FOREVER ago?  Ahem, so yeah - it's taken over a month to get a picture up here, but look!  Ain't they just the cutest?

Specifics:

Pattern: Standard Ann Budd sock, only way, way smaller than usual and with a little 5 row rolled top added above the ribbing.  Just for fun.

Yarn: Elann's Cotton Colori in Cancun Fiesta, and I'm pretty sure I didn't even use half a ball for the pair.

Needles: US #1 Addi turbo (2 circulars)

He asked for rainbow socks.........

Finally, speaking of the nice neighbor-lady and her move, anyone who's looking to move to the hip and exciting neighborhood of Spring Hill, Somerville, do I have the scoop for you!  Attached single family home, townhouse style (uh huh, no one above or below you and a brick firewall between you and your neighbors) 2-3 bedrooms, small front and back yards, full basement, private driveway, two car garage(stone), and seriously cool neighbors (if I do say so myself). The place was renovated a bit in the (i think) 80's, so your bathroom and kitchen will look way, way better than ours.  Hell, they even call them "modern" in the listing. I can also attest that she just had the hardwood floors redone...phew!  It's a mere 10-15 minute walk from Harvard, Porter, AND Union Squares and 20 mins walk from Davis (that's 3, count 'em, THREE yarn stores in walking distance), good bus service (about 5 mins from each of the aforementioned squares by auto), and lots of local color.  We don't have any fun crack houses, but we do have a resident crazy lady on our street, so we've got THAT going for us.  Um, OK, so it's not really all that hip, but it IS a great neighborhood. 

* My basement full-o-boxes.